NDAA Bill Signed: Don’t Blame Obama
Posted by Michelle Moquin on December 16th, 2011
Good morning
I know I’m posting late but I wanted to get my stats, and information correct and finding it all wasn’t easy.
Okay, so I’m not happy with Obama signing the NDAA Bill. But really…what could he have done? What choice did he have? He did what he could. For those of you who want to blame Obama – you gave your rights away when you cast your vote in November 2010- - If you want to blame anyone blame yourself – this is your fault. Not Obama’s. Don’t bitch at Obama; kick yourself. There was nothing he could’ve done – and unfortunately as much as I don’t like it, this is just the way it is. Remember…Obama is the Executive branch not the Legislative branch.
Just like the complaints we hear against Obama, such as: ”He can’t fix the mess.” (this is the mess the republicans left him in: A bankrupt economy.) And “He is giving the money to the banks.” We now have, ”He signs our rights away with the NDAA Bill.” —– They are all phony because his hands are tied. Just like in the the first two, now with reference to the NDAA, the complainers are the ones responsible for allowing enough republicans to get elected to block any reform or stance Obama wants to make.
Obama couldn’t veto what would have been overridden. Also note that if Obama did veto the bill and it was re-written who knows what else they would have added in – the Bill could be worse than it is now. At least Obama was able to put in some provisions before he signed it.
Count your blessings he got the provision put in the NDAA Bill by the republicans removed that would have authorized the SOD (Secretary of Defense) to be the person to decide what American citizen could be detained by the military without a warrant or right to a lawyer. Obama had it changed to only the President could make that call and that the arrest had to be initially made by the FBI thereby giving the American citizen the right to counsel.
If I could find the other provisions I would post them here, but I can’t do all the homework – do the research and be informed before you bitch. Because after the vote last night, all I keep reading is about people bitching at our president for signing, when his hands were tied. You’ll see what I mean – Keep reading please.
Here’s the breakdown:
With a vote of 86 to 14 in favor in the Senate, again, Obama had little choice but to sign the bill, because a veto would have been overridden. A bill needed a mere 66% to override a Presidential veto – the bill passed with an 86%. (See the breakdown below)
The House vote - 283-136 vote: 190 Republicans and 93 Dems voted YEA 43 Republicans and 53 Dems voted NO (Unfortunately I can’t find the breakdown of who voted YEA or NAY – not even on “ontheissues.org” )
So am I still upset? Yes, I’m upset…of course I am. This is disasterous. But I’m not upset with Obama. I’m upset with those who put us in this position…those of you who didn’t vote or voted the wrong way, put in the representatives who voted so overwhelmingly for NDAA (86% in the Senate – 74% in the House), any veto power that the President could have had against this bill was lost.
For those who may still be confused, Civics 101:
The House or the Senate needs only a 66% majority to over ride a Presidential veto!
I know I’m being redundant but sometimes I feel the need….
As noted from a comment I read on a blog:
Here’s a little civics lesson for those that want to blame Obama. A 2/3 vote of the Senate and House can override a Presidential veto. The Senate voted *88% in favor, far more than the 66% needed to override a veto, and the House voted **75% in favor, again, far more than the 66% needed to override a veto.
* Actually 86% in favor and **more likely 74% in favor.
THE 86 SENATORS THAT TOOK AWAY YOUR RIGHTS:
| YEAs —86 | ||
| Akaka (D-HI) Alexander (R-TN) Ayotte (R-NH) Barrasso (R-WY) Baucus (D-MT) Begich (D-AK) Bennet (D-CO) Bingaman (D-NM) Blumenthal (D-CT) Blunt (R-MO) Boozman (R-AR) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Brown (R-MA) Burr (R-NC) Cantwell (D-WA) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Chambliss (R-GA) Coats (R-IN) Cochran (R-MS) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Coons (D-DE) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Enzi (R-WY) Feinstein (D-CA) Gillibrand (D-NY) |
Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Hagan (D-NC) Hatch (R-UT) Heller (R-NV) Hoeven (R-ND) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Inouye (D-HI) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Johnson (D-SD) Johnson (R-WI) Kerry (D-MA) Kirk (R-IL) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Kyl (R-AZ) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lugar (R-IN) Manchin (D-WV) McCain (R-AZ) McCaskill (D-MO) McConnell (R-KY) Menendez (D-NJ) |
Mikulski (D-MD) Murkowski (R-AK) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Portman (R-OH) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Roberts (R-KS) Rockefeller (D-WV) Rubio (R-FL) Schumer (D-NY) Sessions (R-AL) Shaheen (D-NH) Shelby (R-AL) Snowe (R-ME) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Thune (R-SD) Toomey (R-PA) Udall (D-CO) Udall (D-NM) Vitter (R-LA) Warner (D-VA) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wicker (R-MS) |
The 13 Senators that stood their Ground for your Bill of Rights
| Cardin (D-MD) Coburn (R-OK) Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC) Durbin (D-IL) |
Franken (D-MN) Harkin (D-IA) Lee (R-UT) Merkley (D-OR) Paul (R-KY) |
Risch (R-ID) Sanders (I-VT) Wyden (D-OR) |
One was apparently too busy to vote: Moran (R-KS)
*********
And finally a note to the Dems in both the House and the Senate. Perhaps you should be sitting in this seat!
Thoughts? Blog me.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)
December 16th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
President Obama:
You have my support again. I cannot hold you responsible for something you have no power to change. As Michelle said, if we want better laws be had better be more involved in the selection of our legislators.
Alycedale
December 16th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
Roll Away Your Aches and Pains
How to use this simple, inexpensive technique
Special from Bottom Line/Health
October 1, 2011
Whether you have low-back pain from spending too many hours sitting, sore muscles after exercising or general stiffness that comes with aging, you can use foam rollers to massage away pain, improve your muscle tone and increase your flexibility.
For decades, foam rollers—sometimes referred to as the “poor man’s masseuse”—have been widely used for pain management in physical rehab clinics.
Now: Lightweight, inexpensive rollers made of high-density plastic foam are increasingly being used to perform self-massage at home.*
HOW ROLLER MASSAGE WORKS
Roller self-massage stretches and tones muscles and increases circulation, especially in the muscles and areas being worked on. Revved-up blood flow means more nutrients reach muscles and other tissue…and helps promote faster and better breakdown and elimination of waste (such as lactic acid) that builds up in muscles, causing aches and stiffness. Roller self-massage also helps relieve pain by breaking up bands of knotty, tight muscles, especially in the shoulders and neck.
WANT TO TRY IT?
Foam roller self-massage is done primarily on the floor and is best performed on a low-pile carpet or yoga mat. Commonly used round rollers vary in length from one foot to three feet and typically have a diameter of six inches. If you are a beginner, start with a softer roller, which will be marked on the package. A firmer roller is a good option for a competitive athlete.
You can purchase rollers at most sporting-goods stores and discount stores, as well as online at sites like http://www.Amazon.com, Isokinetics, Inc., 866-263-0674, http://www.IsokineticsInc.com, and Power Systems, 800-321-6975, http://www.Power-Systems.com. Cost: About $9 to $25. Power Systems also sells a guidebook.
Important: People who take blood-thinning medication, have heart, vascular or chronic pain conditions, or have arthritis or osteopenia (low bone mineral density) should be sure to consult a physician before trying roller self-massage. Those with thin, fragile skin, significant scarring or surgical incisions, osteoporosis or balance problems that put them at risk of falling should not perform roller self-massage.
3 TOP ROLLER MOVES
For a good introduction to roller self-massage, try the following three moves three times a week with a day’s rest in between sessions. When practiced regularly, these moves will help relieve back, shoulder and leg pain. This regimen can be completed in about five to six minutes.
1. Upper back roll. Purpose: Massages back and shoulder blade muscles, stretches shoulder and chest muscles, and strengthens core muscles.
What to do: Position the roller across your back, about where a woman’s bra fastens. Lie back on the roller with your head and shoulders elevated and fold your arms across your chest. Bend your knees at a comfortable angle, plant your feet firmly (about a foot apart) and lift your hips off the floor. With your body supported by the roller and your feet, roll slowly forward and backward over the tight and sore muscles of the mid-back. Make sure that you hold your neck straight and in a comfortable position. Repeat five to 10 times.
2. Calf roll. Purpose: Massages calf muscles.
What to do: Sit on the floor, and stretch out the leg you will be rolling. The other leg is bent at the knee with the foot resting on the floor. Place the roller mid-calf under one leg. Rest your hands palm down on the floor just behind your bottom for support, and lift your hips so that your body is supported on your hands and the roller. Slowly move the roller up and down your calf five to 10 times. You can add a small side-to-side roll to loosen tight spots.
3. Glutes and hamstring roll. Purpose: To release tight areas in your glutes (buttocks) and hamstrings (backs of the thighs).
What to do: Sit with your buttocks on top of the roller. Slowly roll back and forth on any tight spots in the glutes, then slowly roll from one buttock down to the knee, pausing on any tight or sore spots and rolling back and forth. Repeat on the other buttock/leg. If you have knots in your muscles, rather than rolling back and forth, try to hold still on that spot for up to 60 seconds.
*Check with your doctor before performing roller self-massage.
Bottom Line/Health interviewed Amy Bayliss, DPT, PT, a clinical assistant professor in the department of physical therapy in the School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences at Indiana University–Purdue University in Indianapolis. Dr. Bayliss is a frequent presenter at conferences of the American Physical Therapy Association and is a member of The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy, which recently presented her with the 2010 “Outstanding Service Award.”
December 16th, 2011 at 12:45 pm
Michelle, You as usual are on top of it. I don’t have to say anything about the terrible position the republicans put Obama in on NDAA.
BUT this is another matter:
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., announced today that the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Rights will conduct a field hearing on Florida’s controversial new voting restrictions in Tampa on Jan. 27 — just days before voters head to the polls for the 2012 presidential primary.
Nelson requested the hearing in an October letter sent to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. He asked Durbin to conduct an investigation in order to determine whether Florida’s new restrictions were part of “an orchestrated effort to disenfranchise voters.”
Nelson later asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate Florida’s new law, which limits early voting days, creates new regulations for third-party voter registration drives and shortens the shelf life for ballot initiative signatures, among other provisions.
According to a press release from Nelson’s office, the senator expects to hear testimony from the state lawmakers who pushed the new law through, as well as Gov. Rick Scott:
Hillsborough County is one of five Florida counties where changes to state voting laws must be cleared by the Justice Department because of past racial conditions that could have undermined voting rights.
And, Nelson said, “The community has many diverse groups of voters that might be affected the most under Florida’s new law, like seniors, young voters and minorities.
One recent and credible study says new laws like Florida’s could suppress millions of votes nationwide in the 2012 election.”
Since its passage earlier this year, the law in Florida already has resulted in the nonpartisan Florida League of Women Voters abandoning its voter registration drive after 72 years.
And two high school teachers have run afoul of the law after trying to preregister some of their students.
Among other changes, the law reduces the time for early voting in Florida from 14 days to eight and requires voters who want to give a new county address at the polls to use a type of ballot less likely to be counted. Seniors like early voting and college students change their addresses frequently.
The law also requires those who sign up new voters to first register with the state and then submit all voter applications within 48 hours.
It subjects people like the schoolteachers to hefty fines even for inadvertent mistakes.
There are numerous critics of the law, including the League of Women Voters, NAACP and the Hispanic advocacy group National Council of La Raza.
They contend Florida’s new law and similar measures in a number of other states are designed to suppress the votes of people who tend to vote against the GOP – most notably seniors, young voters and minorities.
The hearing in Tampa is expected to seek testimony from state lawmakers who were behind the voting bill and Gov. Rick Scott who signed it into law.
Others witness could include local supervisors of elections and representatives of voter advocacy groups.
News of Tampa as the location for the hearing comes as legal challenges are mounting to some of the new voting laws in a dozen states including Florida, and on the heels of the first major study of the issue.
A study completed in October by The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law found that these new laws taken together could make it significantly harder for more than five-million eligible voters in numerous states to cast their ballots in 2012.
December 16th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
He is still the favorite to win. He is the incumbent President of the United States. He flies on a big blue airplane that gives him free media exposure whenever he lands. He gets to bring along politicians with whom he can curry favor. It is hard to pick off an incumbent President.
But there are warning signs on the horizon for Mr. Obama. It is not just a sagging economy that may actually be on the way down, not up. Battleground state voters are leaving the Democratic Party.
According to National Journal, “Over 825,000 registered Democrats in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina and Pennsylvania have departed the party rolls since President Obama’s election in 2008.”
USA Today reports that Republicans have become resurgent in key swing states too. “Since the heady days of 2008, a new USA TODAY/Gallup Swing States Poll finds the number of voters who identify themselves as Democratic or Democratic-leaning in these key states has eroded, down by 4 percentage points, while the ranks of Republicans have climbed by 5 points.”
Republican voters are also paying more attention and are more engaged. In key swing states, Obama trails both Romney and Gingrich.
“But wait,” the television pitch man might say, “there’s more!” A Harvard University survey “of more than 2,000 young voters, age 18 to 29, finds their support for Obama, so crucial to his 2008 victory, has dwindled.”
The kids still like their Obamessiah more than they generic Republican, but they think he is going to lose. An Associated Press-GfK poll “finds a majority of American adults (52%) say the Democrat should be defeated come Nov. 6, while only 43% say he deserves a second term.”
And Obama’s divide and conquer strategy of pitting haves and have-nots against each other might not work. In addition to it running against the grain of the individualist DNA Americans have in them, a new Gallup poll suggests Obama’s class warfare strategy might actually backfire.
It is always hard to beat an incumbent. But Barack Obama is making it easier than it has been since Carter was President.
—Erick Erickson
December 16th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
Some republicans are starting to believe that Gingrich is all about gittingRich. They see his posturing as a means to enrich himself at their expense.
So some are sending out the dogs. Here’s Coutler’s bite:
In a December 7 column, conservative pundit Ann Coulter wrote about Newt’s history:
Gingrich has spent his years since [his first year as Speaker of the House] having an affair, divorcing his second wife and making money by being the consummate Washington insider –
trading on access, taking $1.6 million from Freddie Mac and palling around with Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi and Al Sharpton.
Even Chuck Schumer wouldn’t be seen doing a joint event with Al Sharpton! But Newt seeks approval from strange places.
Newt Gingrich is the “anti-Establishment” candidate only if “the Establishment” is defined as “anyone who remembers what happened the day before yesterday.”
There will be more bites. The republicans are a nasty breed.
Ingas
December 16th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
I like your take Michelle. The Facts m’aam nothing but the Facts.
Ingas the dogs were biting before Coulter. Remember Beck’s quote.
Beck said that the former House speaker is such a progressive that any supporters of his who oppose President Obama must be doing so because of Obama’s race.
December 16th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
I can not believe that I’m going to say this, but, I AGREE WITH BECK AND HIS VIEW OF GINGRICH !
I refuse to believe that America has people that would actually Vote for a Crazy like Gingrich.
Newt is nuts !!! His programs would play right into Corp. America, wait, He Is Corp America !!!
December 16th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
We Can’t Wait, Bringing our Troops Home from Iraq
December 16, 2011
We Can’t Wait
House Democrats are committed to extending the payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans and unemployment benefits—initiatives that create jobs, spur our economic growth, and strengthen the middle class.
Congress must take action to pass these crucial pieces of President Obama’s American Jobs Act as well as other provisions to help small businesses grow and hire;
rebuild America’s roads, bridges, and schools; and keep teachers in the classroom, firefighters on the job, and cops on the beat.
The President’s plan, along with House Democrats’ “Make It In America” initiative will revitalize our economy and put our country back on the path of economic prosperity.
Americans can’t wait. Congress must act now.
Congresswoman Pelosi delivers remarks on the floor of the House to mark the end of the war in Iraq and honor the sacrifices of our nation’s veterans and their families.
Bringing our Troops Home from Iraq
On Thursday, we marked the official end to the war in Iraq, bringing our troops home in time for the holidays and ending a war that has cost the American people too much in lives, in dollars, and our reputation around the world.
I commend President Obama for keeping his promise to the American people and express gratitude to those who have served our great nation.
Just as they commit to leave no one behind on the battlefield, we will leave no veteran behind when they come home – honoring their service with the economic opportunities and benefits they were promised.
Increasing Pipeline Safety
On Monday, the House passed H.R. 2845, a bill to strengthen pipeline safety standards by allowing for the hiring of additional safety inspectors, increasing penalties for violators, requiring automatic shutoff valves on new or replaced pipeline, and mandating that pipelines in high-consequence areas have the documentation or testing to prove they can safely handle their level of pressure.
Having witnessed the devastation of the San Bruno pipeline explosion – meeting the victims, touring the destruction, and thanking the first responders –
it is all too clear why Congress had to take strong bipartisan action to strengthen pipeline safety standards.
I commend Transportation Secretary LaHood for his continued attention to this urgent safety issue.
Please feel free to forward this information to your family and friends. To learn more about these efforts, to express your views, or to sign up for email updates, please visit my website. I am also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NancyPelosi.
Sincerely,
Member of Congress
December 16th, 2011 at 1:24 pm
The use of human’s light frequency to transmit information is now a risk because humans have deciphered the vrofluent found in the lost U/23m9.
The technology to read the data is now available. Your transmissions are being monitored.
CEASE or be SILENCED by the recipient as we do not wish our communications over heard.
i9/7t3
December 16th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
Michelle, I wish to thank you for saving my sister. I won’t say which country so as not to expose anyone to danger.
But here is a tip. Iran has shipped into Iraq two radioactive devices. They are to be detonated for their destructive purposes and as a practice run for your country..
I can not say more at this time, but I will later.
D
December 17th, 2011 at 9:07 am
It’s scary to feel the yearn for the day when the democratic party learns the world of politics as well as the repugnicant party that knows the game…